Desulphurizing-furnace



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.A. BLAT'OHLY. DESULPHURIZING FURNACE. No. 255,135. Patented Mar.21,1882.

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A. BLAT O HLY DESULPHURIZING FURNACE.

No. 255,135. Patented Mar. 21,1882.

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UNITED STATES P TENT OFFICE.

AMBROSE BLATCHLY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

DESULPHURlZlNG-FURN-ACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 255,135, dated March21, 1882.

Application filed'May 11, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AMBROSE BLATGHLY, of the city and county of SanFrancisco, in the State of California, have invented an ImprovedDesulphurizing-Furnace; and I do hereby dcclare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

My invention relates, first, to a new and improved method or process fordesulphurizing ores; and it consists, first,in drying the ores;

I secondly, in subjecting them to the action of heat in a closedchamber, retort, or muffle; and, thirdly, in agitating or stirring theore in the chamber, retort, or muffle, and at the same time injectinghot air which-has been dehydrated into, upon, and against the ore, so asto drive off the sulphur in the form of sulphnrous anhydride without theformation of any hy' drous acid. w

My invention relates, secondly, to a novel construction of furnace whichis especially adapted for treating the ores by my anhydrous roastingprocess above mentioned.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sectiontaken longitudinally through my improved furnace. Fig. 2 is a horizontalsection taken above the traveling plow,in theplane indicated by thedotted line or on Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a-transverse vertical section takennear the end of the furnace, showing the frictiongearing acting on thechain. Figs 1 and 5 show detail views of the reversible gear.

Let A represent a closed chamber, retort, or

muffle, the bottom of which can be made of tiles, while the remainder ismade of cast-iron or brick. This chamber, retort, or muffle I place upona brick-work foundation, B, and in this foundation, under the forwardend of the retort or muffle, I construct a fire-place, O. From thisfire-place a flue, D, runs along underneath the retort or chamber,thence up around its rear end, and then forward over its top to thestack or chimney E at its forward end, so that the heat and products ofcombustion are compelled to pass back under and against the tile bottomof the chamber, up behind it, and forward over its top, thus encirclingit on three sides. Above the horizontal portion of this flue, whichis-directly above the chamber, I construct a drying-floor, F, upon whichthe ore to be roasted is placed to dry preliminary to introducing itinto the furnace through the feed passages, hereinafter described.

Inside of the chamber or muffle, near each -end, I construct a lowbridge-wall or track, j,

which extends entirely across its bottom; but these bridge-walls ortracks only rest upon the bottom or floor at each side of the chamber,so that a space is left underneath them through which the ore can pass,as hereinafterdescribed.

A rod or beam, Gr, extends lengthwise of the chamber, and its oppositeends rest upon the bridge-walls or tracksf. This beam carries a numberof plows or mold-boards, h, which extend downward from it so as to stir,agitate, and turn the ore over as the beam is moved from side toside ofthe chamber. This beam may be a hollow tube through which a stream ofwater can be passed in order to keep it from being unduly heated. Anendless chain, S, passes through holes in the sides of the chamberopposite each end of thebeam G,and thence it passes around pulleysjj,Fig. 3, just outside of the furnace and down underneath the chamber.Each chain is connected with one end of the beam G, so that when thechains are caused to travel the beam and its plows will be drawn by itin thedirection in which the chain moves. The plows are so constructedthat they will plow a furrow when traversingacross the chamber in eitherdirection. Each chain I connect underneath or at one side of thechamberwith a shaft, H, which is driven by a reversing-gear, (shown atFigs. 4 and 5,) by meansof'which a continuous rotary motion is convertedinto a reciprocating semi-rotary motion, thus serving to draw the chainsfar enough in one direction to carry the beam and its plows across thechamber, and then to automatically reverse the motion, so as to carrythe beam and its tached. Pinions dare mountedon a short shaft,

Y, on each side of the mutilatedgear-wheel, so

that when the driving-shaft is rotated the teeth of the mutilatedgear-wheelwill alternately engage with one and then the other, so as todrive them partially around in opposite directions. A pinion, z, on eachshort shaft engages with a spur-wheel on the end of the shaft H, so thatthe motion of the pinions are transmitted to the shaft H, thus causingit to wind upon the chains alternately in opposite directions in thesame way. By this means the beam and its plows are drawn from side toside of the chamber, but the plows do not move in the sametrack in bothdirections. At both ends of each bridge-wall or traekf, I construct aninclined plane, K, up which the beam will be carried as it approacheseach side of the chamber, so that the plows are lifted clear of the oreon the bottom of the chamber and dropped again just before the returnmovementconnnences. Each vertical incline has a horizontal incline, I,on its side, so that, besides being lifted upward before itisdropped toreturn, the beam is shifted endwise the width of a plow. Thus each plowin its reverse movement takes the ore that was moved by its neighborduring the prior movement. The shitting inclines l on one end of thebridge-walls or tracks incline in an opposite direction from those atthe opposite end, so thatthe beam is shifted back and forth the width ofa plow at each side of the chamber, thus moving the ore continuously inone direction through thelength of the chamber, the

whole being performed automatically by a continuous rotary motionimparted to the main drive-shaft.

The pulleys marked j, around which the chains pass at each side of thechamber, are

friction-pulleys, and their object is to prevent any slipping of thechains as they are drawn from side to side. The pulleys of each set arearranged in pairs horizontally and vertically, and the chain passes overand under them alternately, as represented at Fig. 3. Thedriving-pulleys of the chains S (shown on one side of the furnace inFig. 3) are geared together and are driven from one driving-shaft, sothat their speed is uniform, and each driving-pulley applies power andassists in moving the chain. The friction of the chains passing in thismanner around and between them will prevent the chains from slipping, sothat their pull upon the beam G is steady and uniform.

The ore is introduced into the roastingchamber behind the rearbridge-wall through two or more pipes or tubes, M, which lead from therear end of the drying-floor down into the chamber near its bottom.These feedpipes enter the chamber at intervals apart, so as todistribute the ore upon the chamberfloor. Their upper ends areenlarged,so as to form hoppers N, into which the dry ore on the drying-floor canbe readilyshoveled. The ore passes from the lower ends of the pipes Minto the rear end ofthe chamber, as before stated, behind thebridge-wall. The plows traveling back and forth, from side to side, moveit gradually toward the opposite end of the cham her, where there is anopening, 0, through which the roasted ore is discharged into a boxorother receptacle arranged beneath it, but not shown in the drawings.The movement of the ore through the furnace is necessarily slow, as theplows move it step by step, and as the ore is moved forward that whichis behind the bridge-wall will move by its gravity down through thespace under the bridge-wall and take the place of that which isdisplaced, thus providing a continuous feed and disehargeinto, through,and from the chamber.

Outside of the chamber, at some convenient point, I place an air-blower,Q, from which a pipe, It, leads into and through a box, 8, in whichchloride of calcium or other dehydrating substance is contained. Iprefer to extend this pipe into the flue D at the frontend ofthefurnace,and pass it along over the chamber to its rear end, thencedownward and then forward under the chamber to the tire-place O,in whichit may be coiled. This arrangement of the pipe is not shown in theannexed drawings. The tube R is connected with a large tube, T, whichextends transversely across the chamher at a shortdistance above thetraveling beam G. A similar tube extends across the opposite end of thechamber at the same level, and a number of small horizontal tubes, V,connect these large tubes. Each of the small tubes V has a number ofnipples or perforations, 10, projecting downward from it toward thebottom of the chamber. I

The blower is driven by a suitable power, so as to drive a current ofair into the dehydrating-box s, in which it is deprived of its moisture.Thence the airtraverses through the pipe B, being heated in its passagethrough the flue and fire-place, and is finally ejected through thenozzles upon and against the ore as it is moved, turned, and agitated bythe plows. By this means the ore is dried before itenters the chamber,and the air which is introduced into the chamber is deprived 0f.itsmoisture, so that no hydrous acid is formed.

Through the top of the chamber or muflie I make a number of holes orperforations, 3 through which the air and gases will escape from thechamber after the air has been ejected into and against the ore, and asthese holes are distributed over the roof-surface the upward flow of airand gases will beuniform and steady without creating adraft. Theperforations or nozzles in the air-pipes eject the air downward upon theore uniformly at all points of the oresurface in the corners, aswellasin the middle of the floor, so that no portion of ore escapes theoxidizing influence of the air and no current is created to scatter orraise and carry off the fine dust particles, as in other furnaces wherea draft or blast of air is used.

. I have above stated that theair which I forciblyinject into thefurnace among the ore is detacle for containing thedehydratingsubstancelIO .130 prived of its moisture, and I have shown a recep-.

through which the air is compelled to pass before itenters the furnace.By thus treating the air I furnish only a sufficient amount of hydrogento unite with the sulphur and form a free sulphurous anhydride, which isdriven 05 without the formation of anhydrous acid.

If the air is charged with moisture, steam will be formed in the furnaceand decomposed into its elements, which is not desirable.

Having thus described my invention,\vhat I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent,

1. The process of desulphuriziug ores, consisting of the followingsuccessive steps: first, drying the ore; second, subjecting the driedore in a close chamber to thorough agitation third, subjecting the oreto the action of heat; and, fourth, injecting hot air which has beendehydrated, or deprived of its moisture, substantially as described.

2. A desulphurizing-furnace consisting of the closed chamber, retort, ormuffle A, mounted over the fire-place G, and having the flue D, leadingunderneath, around the rear end, and

over the top of the chamber to a stack, E, at

the front of the furnace, the drying-floor F, arranged over the chamberand flue, the stirrers h, the blower Q, box s, air-pipe R, anddistributing-pipes V, with their perforations or nozzles w, all combinedand arranged to operate substantially as above described.

3. In an ore-roasting muffle or retort furnace, the automatic stirringapparatus consistin g of the beam G, with its plows or stirrers I1,operated by the chains S and automatic reversing-gear, in combinationwith the bridgewalls or tracks f, with their vertical inclined planes Kand horizontal inclines l, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

4. The combination, in a furnace for desulphurizing ores, of the orechamber having holes through its top wall, the perforated airinjectingpipes, arranged across the furnace AMBROSE BLATGHLY.

Attest: t WM. F. CLARK,

EDWARD E. OsBoRN.

